In Punjabi, “pind” literally means “village.” The word has intense ­evocations: a pind is your hometown, the seedbed from which you sprang, the environment that shaped you as much as your family did. When meeting a fellow Punjabi speaker, rarely are you asked “What do you do?” Rather, the invariable question is “What’s your pind?”

For me, the factual answer to the question is Dadyal, an obscure speck in ­Punjab. Yet I have few memories of Dadyal—I left at the age of five. And the more accurate answer is Rexdale. I grew up in Rexdale, where virtually the entire able-bodied population of Dadyal moved in the 1970s and 1980s.

I now live part of the year in Regina, where my wife teaches, and part of the year in Rexdale. My mother, brother and innumerable cousins, uncles and aunts are Rexdalers. Like my family, most of the people I know in Rexdale are working-class immigrants who moved here in recent decades: Somalis, Italians, Jamaicans. There is a strange irony in the fact that one of the main streets in Rexdale is Kipling, an imperialist bard commemorated in a post-colonial district.

Rexdale is of course now internationally famous as the district where Rob Ford smoked crack in one of his drunken stupors. The wolf pack of accused criminals who hang around Ford as if he’s their den master are either Rexdale natives or from other Etobicoke neighbourhoods. And, like Etobicoke in general, Rexdale is Ford’s political base, the original home of Ford Nation. After news of the crack video first broke, I heard more than a few Rexdalers defend Ford as a native son being attacked by “them”—the people from downtown. If Rexdale is my ’hood, then inevitably Rob Ford is my homie.

Because of Ford’s antics, Rexdale has become a major journalistic stomping ground. Although newspapers like the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail have done a top-notch job of exposing Ford’s many nefarious deeds and habitual mendacity, I’m appalled by the way they’ve depicted Ford’s milieu. Journalistic accounts of Rexdale are written in the same tone of anxious amazement as ­Victorian explorers’ reports from Africa. The National Post once described Rexdale as “blighted and violence-plagued,” and on another occasion alluded to “the wilds of Islamic Rexdale.” The Globe’s publisher has said his newspaper is only interested in readers who make more than $100,000 a year, which by implication means his paper isn’t for the cab drivers and factory workers who live in Rexdale.

Despite his buffoonery, Rob Ford’s political prowess should never be under­estimated. He doesn’t reflexively look down on Rexdale. He knows his way around it all too well. Ford once promised to make “Rexdale the new Rosedale.” This typical Fordian flourish earned him many a snide laugh in downtown Toronto yet endeared him to his core constituency. He might be promising the stars, but at least he takes Rexdale seriously. Ford’s right-wing populism derives its power from understanding the aspirations of Rexdalers for projects like the expansion of ­Woodbine Racetrack into a shopping and casino complex. Although the billion-dollar project fell apart, Ford’s efforts on its behalf earned him street cred. What do Ford’s opponents have to offer Rexdale, aside from austerity and condescension?

Multiculturalism is often a vacant word; if it has any substantial meaning, it involves people not just preserving their cultural traditions but also sharing them with their neighbours. In my experience, genuine multiculturalism occurs more in Rexdale than in downtown Toronto. Rexdale is where I hear impassioned conversations about the prospects of the Toronto Maple Leafs conducted in Punjabi. Rexdale is the home of a magnificent Hindu temple, brought over piece by piece from India. Rexdale is the place to find Punjabi pizza, a sumptuous curry-inflected dish that my Bulgarian-born partner prefers to the Italian version. Rexdale is where my mother, who worked for decades laundering hospital bedsheets, acquired conversational skills in Italian and Tagalog from her co-workers. Although she would be uncomfortable around the publisher of the Globe, my mother is at ease with the microcosm of the world she’s found in Rexdale.

Cultural mixing always runs the risk of generating strife as well as affectionate familiarity. Growing up in Rexdale, I sometimes heard the words “Paki” and “nigger” from the mouths of working-class white kids. I’ve also heard racist anti-black comments from Punjabi elders. As terrible as this racism is, it comes from people who are more comfortable with other ethnic groups than those who live in the sheltered enclaves of expensive downtown condos. Ford exemplifies the paradox. He often says dunderheaded, racist things, but few white politicians are more visibly at home at a multi-racial social event.

Sooner or later, Rob Ford will disappear from public life. But Fordism will endure beyond its dishevelled and oversized avatar. To defeat it, politicians will have to let go of their urbanite snobbery and learn to listen to Rexdale.

14 thoughts on “The Divided City: Rexdale isn’t perfect, but I prefer it to the hypocrisy of downtown”

I won’t deny downtown can be hypocritical. But let’s not overlook the ignorance of supporting someone who, in his zeal to lower taxes for rich people like himself, is ready and willing to sacrifice services to the very ‘homies’ he hangs out with. When he declines free public health nurses to deal with bed bugs, who do you think suffers most? The folks in areas like Rexdale; when he voted against the motion for funding TCHC repairs, again who suffers? Rexdale and other social housing residents; when he appointed a harsh and efficiency-minded TCHC head to reform the organization to make it less a social housing agency, who bears the brunt? Rexdale and other poor or ethno-racial communities; when he promised gravy but couldn’t find any and threatened to cut services and close libraries, again who pays that price? Kids at poorer or mixed neighbourhood. So he’s fun to hang out with, speaks Patois, can do a line or two and drink with you. But at the end of the day, Ford is a fair weather friend who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: He may buddy buddy you in your hood, but let’s see whether he has done anything to improve the areas where he hangs with you. Ford is banking on people who don’t see his other face, unlike downtowners, to party with him and vote for him even if he actively acts against their interests. Who needs enemies when you have friends like these?

Jeet, I’m glad his words are a sop to you and your neighbourhood. But meanwhile, he villifies anything that is “other” in his narrow-minded view of the world: gays, the public service, those who work in unions, anyone who isn’t rabidly pro-car, anyone who has hard-earned, expert knowledge (have your seen him question planners or engineers during Council? It’s a disgrace).

You praise his political prowess so it must have dawned on you that he’s being opportunistic here and playing you guys like a fiddle. He can’t change the evolving face of the neighbourhood he’s from. He’s not going to move. This is a man who goes to Mandarin and eats steak and potatoes. Maybe you think he doesn’t condescend, but abiding and not fully embracing hardly seems a reason to strike up the band.

You ask: What do Ford’s opponents have to offer Rexdale, aside from austerity and condescension?

My God, what price tribal loyalty? Howsabout dignity, integrity, lawfulness, empathy (not sympathy), and above all just being COMPOS MENTIS. This is not an issue of right/left. He hasn’t read the Conflict of Interest Act in 14 years in council. This is an issue of competence and, for voters, self-respect (why would you vote for someone who is guaranteed to cost the city money by stepping into something again because he doesn’t know any rules/laws?)

Promising the stars is not the same as taking a place, or it’s citizen’s interests, seriously.

It’s actually the exact opposite. Lying to someone to gain their favour may indeed mean you are listening to their concerns, but it’s no sign of respect. Ford has done as much (if not more) than anyone in the media to encourage the negative stereotypes of Rexdale.

Of course there is urbanite snobbery – a sense of pride and belonging that is not significantly different from the ‘pind’ concept that the author begins this piece by celebrating – but someone who generalizes that downtowners live in “sheltered enclaves of expensive downtown condos” is not offering any solutions, they are just perpetuating the problem.

I’m pretty sure this article written by Mr, Heer was written quite a while ago and it was published in the print magazine and just uploaded online recently. (TL should make note of that, as this story continues to evolve).

As a former Rexdale resident myself, I have to agree with many of the points raised here. Some of the things people like Adam Vaughan have said about the inner suburbs are as bad as the things Ford has said about downtown. There seems to be a prevailing attitude in the downtown of condescension to places like Rexdale. The media has been pretty bad. In addition to the print media, the local television media have been just as bad. In 2010, neither Smitherman nor Pantalone made an effort in Rexdale, despite the fact that Miller had some success here, Ward 1 is represented provincially by a Liberal and in city council Ward 1 had the left-leaning Suzan Hall as councillor. Owing to the lack of visibility it allowed Ford to pounce, his brother took Ward 2 easily and Hall lost Ward 1 to perennial runner-up Vincent Crisanti, who hosted many event alongside Rob Ford. I wouldn’t be surprised if the riding goes blue in the upcoming provincial election.

However, I have started to lose faith in Rexdale. The residents for whatever reason can’t seem to comprehend all the reasons why he is toxic for Rexdale and the city as a whole. You can blame it on a lot of things, lack of education, lack of awareness, or perhaps its the long hours they work. The challenge is for Ford’s opponents to go into Rexdale and pounce on his stances on public transit, housing, and crime that all negatively affect Rexdale. Rexdale is not like the poor communities in the US where they have a bunch of community organizations informing residents of what policies are affecting them. This is the job for the likes of Stintz, Chow, Tory and the rest. They need someone to point out how by associating with criminals Ford has done nothing to help the crime problem. Or how he uses local kids as goons to take out his enemies, like he did with Aeden Petros to beat up his sister’s ex. I knew Aeden and knew him as a recent immigrant to Canada with a great sense of humour. You would think that being on the Don Bosco Eagles would keep him on the straight and narrow. Looks like the opposite has happened. They need to know that he emptied a full rush hour bus to service his precious (former) football team or that he plans to cancel a funded LRT line on Finch to replace the terrible 36. They need to know that he wants to propose a subway that would take years (if not decades) to construct and cost a hell a lot more in taxes. They need to know how he wants to further halt improvements to community housing. Who’s going to have the courage to call out Crisanti, a longtime usher at St. Andrews Catholic Church on Kipling, for his hypocrisy on supporting such an un-Christian human being? Who’s going to point out that unlike to people in Rexdale that unlike you people who work long hours a day to provide for your family that Ford got everything handed to him on a silver platter and as opposed to what that asshat on Sun News Ezra Levant would have you believe, Ford is definitely “not like us”. And Mr. Heer, I hope you tell your Punjabi friends in Rexdale how Ford casually drops the P-word like it’s 1973 and has a policy of refusing to attend ethnic events. (Now that I think about it, I don’t think Ford has ever appeared at the Khalsa Day Parade.)

If anyone is most guilty of being condescending to Rexdale, it’s Ford himself. He talks the talk, photo-ops the photo-op, but does little of any real value to improve Rexdale or in his words make it into Rosedale (which is a terrible thing and a rant onto itself). As Robyn Dolittle reported this week, he’s using the rainbow flag thing to endear himself to voters in Rexdale. It’s obvious and it is perhaps the most crass and disgusting thing this man has done. We often talk about the expectation that new immigrants adopt Canadian values, what about the Canadian-born citizens?

There are a lot of people that want Ford out of office and in Rexdale many who don’t know it yet. It’s our job to go into the Rexdales, Malverns, Jane and Finches and help these people realize that Ford is not as cracked up to be as they once thought.

Toronto has multiple cultures, but I certainly wouldn’t describe
it as a shining example of multiculturalism. Upper middle class white people
establish white ghettoes where they can live their Starbucks /CBC / Toronto Star
lifestyles. Their concept of multiculturalism is having a Korean dry cleaner, a
Portuguese house cleaner and going to an ethnic restaurant once a week. Other
than that, keep away.

Inner-suburbanites are indifferent to Toronto and that is why the elected and still support Mayor Ford. All they want is a person who they can trust not to spend their money
foolishly and that’s about the only thing you can trust about the Mayor. Many
in the ‘burbs feel like second-class citizens and I think that they are
enjoying watching the Downtowners squirm every time the Mayor makes a
laughingstock out of the city

Yes, and even if the inner suburbanites were growing weary of His Worship’s antics, every time a downtowner condescendingly calls them stupid or unsophisticated or an idiot for supporting Rob Ford (which happens about 50 times a day on this site alone) they raise their collective middle fingers and say ‘screw you – he’ll get my vote again’.

I find this writer’s comments on downtowners just as insulting as people’s derogatory comments about Rexdale. I live in a condo downtown, which I rent so I am close to my middle class earning job. I am a block away from the very diverse Esplanade neighbourhood, not too far from Regent Park, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t look down on suburbs. I also think Rob Ford is an obnoxious, unqualified bully, and if he represented my neighbourhood, I would not be so blinded by his promises to be unable to see what and who he really is.

I don’t think it’s as much “Ford’s right-wing populism derives its power from understanding the aspirations of Rexdalers” as it is his ability to exploit the all too evident vulnerabilities of these ethno-racially diverse communities – whether it’s his apparent prowess at facilitating “queue-jumping” as he calls City workers on behalf of aggrieved residents – or his community destroying promises of tax cuts to folks who are struggling to survive at the margins of our neighbourhoods – folks who are ever more disproportionately peoples of colour !!

-Say you represent all Toronto’s people, but use racist, sexist and divisive words
-Pretend to be “one of the people” but live on inherited wealth.
-Say everything you do saves the city money, but use your vote to benefit clients

and CANCEL money-raising tax.
etc etc etc.
Toronto is ONE city, that the Fords insist on trying to divide and rule.